These curry chicken thighs are the easiest curry chicken recipe. It uses a simple spice mix of curry powder, coconut milk and some tinned tomatoes. to make a gorgeously fragrant curry sauce. Serve these chicken thighs over basmati rice and let the rice soak up all that sauce. You will absolutely love this 30-minute simple chicken dinner.
It feels like I make a curry almost every week! Simply because they're so quick and easy, and often my most popular recipes like this salmon curry or this simple creamy coconut chicken curry. And this one is no different. Here's why you're gonna love it!
- This recipe only uses 10 ingredients-
- Using chicken thighs keeps this recipe cheap
- All ingredients are pantry staples from Aldi
- Makes great leftovers
Simple Curry Chicken Thighs
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Ingredients needed
- vegetable oil- you can use other oils like canola or olive oil here. As long as they have a high smoke point, you're good to go.
- onion, garlic, fresh ginger- The building blocks of any great curry recipe.
- chicken thighs (skin on, bone-in)- you can most certainly use boneless, skinless thighs here too
- chopped tomatoes- you can use whole tinned tomatoes- just be sure to break them up with a sharp knife while they're in the pan.
- curry powder- adjust the amount according to your taste
- chilli powder- you can skip the chilli powder or add more than specified depending on personal taste. Cayenne is also interchangeable here if that's what you have on hand.
- honey- to helps balance out the acidity of the tomatoes and the curry powder
- fresh coriander
Step by step cooking instructions
Step 1 & 2
- Preheat the oven to 190º Heat the oil in an ovenproof dish. (This cast iron one works well)
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper and once the oil is hot (it will shimmer) brown the chicken skin side down so it gets crispy. Fry the chicken for about 5 -8 minutes, until the skin, is golden and crispy. Remove the thighs to a plate and set them aside while you make the sauce.
*Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to brown the chicken in batches.
Step 3 & 4
- Drain the pan of the oil and chicken fat leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pan. Add the chopped onion and minced garlic and ginger to the hot oil. Saute for 5 minutes until the onions are soft, translucent and just starting to turn golden around the edges.
- Pour the tinned tomatoes and coconut milk into the pan and whisk well. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Add in the curry powder, chilli powder, honey and juice of the lime. Bring the sauce to a simmer.
Step 5 & 6
- Add the chicken thighs back to the pan and place them into the sauce. Place the pan in the oven for 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked all the way through and the sauce is bubbling and thickened.
- Serve over basmati rice with lime wedges and sprinkle with the chopped coriander
Variations
- You can use boneless chicken thighs here, just be sure to reduce the cooking time a little bit.
- If you want to skip the browning process for this chicken curry, use boneless skinless chicken breast and cook it straight into the sauce.
- To make this on the stove top only- add the chicken back into the sauce and continue to cook on the hob while the sauce gently simmers for about 20 minutes. Just note that the chicken skin will not remain as crispy as the oven method.
What to serve with curried chicken thighs
I wanted to keep this recipe as simple as possible and 10 ingredients, but you're probably going to want to add some extras to serve with this curry. So, here's a few top choices
- Naan bread <- Try this homemade 2 ingredient version
- Spinach- either just wilted on the side or stir some spinach into the sauce before you add the chicken back to the pan.
- Steamed broccoli
- Roasted courgettes (zucchini)
Storage
- Like most chicken recipes these curried thighs make the greatest leftovers. Simply let the chicken cool completely and store it in airtight containers with the sauce.
- To reheat the chicken, place in a microwave-safe dish with some of the sauce and heat on medium in 30-second intervals until the chicken and sauce are hot all the way through.
- These curry thighs will also freeze for up to 3 months. Just defrost in the fridge overnight before reheating.
More curry recipes
- Indian lamb curry
- Red Thai curry turkey meatballs
- Or for a veggie option try this sweet potato curry
Tools used
Need help with meal planning? You can find our (Aldi ingredients only) weekly meal plans here! Sign up to receive them free every week or take our quick meal planning course and grab the blank meal planner and use all these recipes to create your own meal plans.
Simple Curry Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) vegetable oil
- 1 (1) onion, chopped
- 3 cloves (3 cloves) garlic, minced
- 1 (1) thumb-size piece ginger, minced
- 6 -8 (6 -8) chicken thighs, about 1kg skin-on, bone-in you can most certainly use boneless, skinless thighs here too
- 1 (1) tin chopped tomatoes *see notes
- 400 ml (1 ⅗ cups) tin coconut milk *see notes
- 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) curry powder
- ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) chilli powder- you can skip the chilli powder or add more than specified depending on personal taste.
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) honey
- 1 (1) lime, juice only
- ½ (½) bunch fresh coriander, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190ºc or 375ºf.
- Heat the oil in an ovenproof dish. (This cast iron one works well)
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper and once the oil is hot (it will shimmer) brown the chicken skin side down so it gets crispy. Fry the chicken for about 5 -8 minutes, until the skin is golden and crispy. Remove the thighs to a plate and set aside while you make the sauce.
- Drain the pan of the oil and chicken leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pan. Add the chopped onion and minced garlic and ginger to the hot oil. Saute for 5 minutes until the onions are soft, translucent and just starting to turn golden around the edges.
- Pour the tinned tomatoes and coconut milk into the pan and whisk well. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Add in the curry powder, chilli powder, honey and juice of the lime. Bring to a gentle simmer, add the chicken thighs back to the pan, and place them into the sauce. Place the pan in the oven for 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked all the way through and the sauce is bubbling and thickened.
- Serve over basmati rice and sprinkle with the chopped coriander
Notes
Nutrition
THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING AND COOKING ALONG WITH ME! IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR HAVE A QUESTION, I’D LOVE IT IF YOU LEFT A COMMENT AND A RATING. YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW ALONG ON PINTEREST, FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM TO SEE WHAT WE’RE EATING, PINNING AND A LITTLE BEHIND THE SCENES TOO!
daniel moore
cooked for me and the wife plus 4 kids, For once it was a meal where nobody had any complaints or picked at it, only problem was sauce was a bit watery so we just wacked it in a pan and turned heat up, stirred til thickened
Deborah Rainford
Happy that everyone loved it! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment! It's so appreciated! 🙂
Jana
Absolutely awesome recipe! Thank you.
Deborah Rainford
So happy you liked it. 🙂
Janis Yates
I make this recipe pretty much once a week! Absolutely love it. Thank you!
Deborah Rainford
So happy you love the recipe! And thank you for leaving a comment and a rating. It's so appreciated! 🙂
Caroline
This chicken curry is very delicious very good I have made it three times now. I changed the recipe a little bit by adding 2 cans of coconut milk and added a little bit more chicken and added more vegetables like mushrooms and celery and used 4 onions. It came out amazing!
Deborah Rainford
Love your adaptations! Thank you for sharing them! And thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and a rating. It's so appreciated! 🙂
Reenie
So delicious and rich! Only thing I’d say is my chicken thighs needed much longer than 20 minutes. Cooked them for 35 - not sure why this is because oven was preheated, lid off, correct temp etc.
Deborah Rainford
So happy you liked the recipe. Your chicken thighs may have been bigger than the ones I used in the recipe which would explain the longer cook time. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment and a rating. It's very appreciated. 🙂
Nina
These curry chicken thighs were out of this world! Thank you!
Deborah Rainford
Such a great recipe! My whole family loves this one!
Sheila
These chicken thighs make an appearance weekly on our dinner table! Great recipe. Thank you!
Chris
really tasty. I will make this again
Deborah Rainford
Thanks so much, Chris! And thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and a rating. Its so appreciated!
Leslie McAvoy
This recipe is really good and fairly fast, but the cooking time is off. Browned chicken is not cooked, it's raw in the middle. I bumped the temp up to 325 and cooked for 30 minutes not 20. No chicken will cook all the way at less than 325 in 20 minutes. I would recommend using a meat thermometer until it reaches 165. Your bake temp is off and cook time is off, other than that the recipe is great!
Deborah Rainford
Thanks so much for the comment, Leslie. The temperature in the recipe is 190ºC which works out to 375ºf. If your oven was on 325f that would definitely equate to the 10-minute cooking difference. Cooking times are always a rough guide due to the variance in ovens. Some people's ovens will run hotter than others or a little cooler. So yes, a meat thermometer is always a good idea, as is an oven thermometer so you can see if your oven is running a little cool. And if your sauce is made the way the recipe states, it will be at a simmer which will be hot enough to finish cooking the chicken in the hot oven during the allotted 20 minutes. Hope that helps. And I'm really happy you loved the recipe.
Paul Gilbert
Hi Deborah! Thanks for this wonderful recipe it’s so simple & absolutely delicious . (And I'm very particular) I will most certainly be making it again. I’ve shared it to my friends x
Deborah Rainford
Thank you so much, Paul! So happy to see this. And thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment and a rating. It's very appreciated!
Lyne
Is the oven temperature off? I started at 190 as directed but it went way past the 20 minutes before bubbling and thickening, turned temp up and had to move to stove top after an hour to thicken and finish??? It was delicious!
Deborah Thompson
There could have been a few reasons for this, maybe the oven wasn't preheated or maybe the lid was on the pan while it was in the oven? I'm happy it worked out in the end that you loved the recipe!
Winnie
I made this tonight. Didn’t want to open a can of tomatoes so used marinara that was in the fridge. Came out great. Delicious! Adding it to the rotation
Deborah Thompson
Yes! A jar of marinara is perfect here too! Love that you improvised and made this recipe your own!